Rangers take Game 1 from defending champs
The Rangers wasted little time getting on the board in Game 1. Mika Zibanejad created a 2-on-1 and dished it over to Chris Kreider for the first goal of the game.
The Lightning did not wait long to respond with a goal of their own on a laser from captain Steven Stamkos.
Frank Vatrano took the lead back for the Rangers halfway through the second period.
Ondrej Palat answered back 42 seconds later.
Youngster Filip Chytil scored on a great one-timer to retake the lead, 3-2.
Chytil scored again to extend the Rangers lead. Chytil scored only 8 goals in all of the regular season. He scored #6 & #7 of the playoffs in the second period against the best goalie on the planet.
Artemi Panarin scored early in the third to further extend the lead.
The Rangers faithful held their collective breath after Stamkos makes contact with Shesterkin's head in the crease.
Zibanejad added yet another tally on the power play to put the game all but out of reach.
Game 1 ended with quite a few penalty minutes following an animated skirmish between the two teams. It should be a long series, so tempers are sure to flare in lopsided games.
Shesterkin won this round of the goaltending matchup against Vasilevskiy. He won his 7th straight home game, 36 saves on 38 shots for a .949 save percentage. The Rangers drove the pace of play throughout the game and never trailed. The Lightning and Vasilevskiy look to bounce back Friday night in Game 2 in New York at 8pm.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||